John Edward Wylie was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 25 September 1936 and played in the wing-half position. He signed for Huddersfield in September 1954 but in three seasons didn’t make a first team appearance.
Wylie joined Preston in May 1957 and after a season of reserve team football he made his debut in the 2-1 home defeat to Leeds on 6 September 1958 and made a further 4 appearances during the season.
He failed to make any appearances in 1959/60 but made 39 appearances in Preston’s last season in the top division in 1960/61. His first Lilywhite goal was scored in the first season of the League Cup, scoring in the 3-3 draw against Aston Villa on 15 November 1960. His only league goal for the club came in the same season in a 1-1 draw against Manchester on 3 April 1961.
He made 38 appearances in 1961/62 and a further 9 in 1962/63 to take his PNE total to 91. His last appearance came in a 6-2 home defeat to Cardiff on 29 September 1962.
In November 1962 Wylie joined Fourth Division Stockport and in one and a half seasons made 69 league appearances, netting one goal.
Wylie signed for Fourth Division Doncaster in August 1964. In his first two seasons for the club he made 44 appearances and one goal in each season as the Dons moved up the table from seventeenth in 1962/63 to ninth in 1963/64.
He was an ever-present in 1965/66 as Doncaster won the Fourth Division title, scoring once. The following season he made a further 30 appearances as they finished second bottom and relegated from Division Three. Wylie made the last of his 124 league appearances in the 1967/68 season.